Monday, May 21, 2012

Have Fun With It!

Recently Shark Girl attended a seminar led by a prominent
black belt. Black Belt taught some cool techniques that I have been trying to
repeat with miserable results. But he said something that I have found much
easier to implement, and something that rings true to me and my sense of jiu
jitsu and the world.*

Black Belt said that in order to
improve one’s jiu jitsu, the most important thing was to have fun with it. He described gyms where the “guys” were so
competitive that every roll was a death match. Black Belt would return the next
year to find the guys were still at the same level. Black Belt continued that,
in order to improve, one has to “play” with jiu jitsu. Have fun with it, even
if you risk being tapped.

Those guys in that fictional gym had not improved because
they never gave themselves room. Improvement comes from creative
experimentation, and creative experimentation leaves room for failure. If we
are always rolling to submit, we can miss the opportunities for growth. It’s
like Musclehead who chooses to smother me with side position because he knows
he can’t afford to get in my guard. Sure, he’ll win. But he’ll never learn to
pass my guard. Okay, so maybe he doesn’t need to learn to pass my guard; let’s
face it, he can crush me. But he will never improve that aspect of his game. Ha-ha!

I’ve been taking Black Belt’s advice to heart. I’ve been
rolling for fun, especially with players that are less experienced than me. I
move for the submission, back off, let them roll me, reguard. I pick something
to work depending on the skills of my partner and I don’t worry about all the
other stuff. It’s a lot more fun for both of us. No one** wants to be sat on
for four minutes writhing for breath. No one** wants to be submitted five times
in a row. I say this from personal experience.

A little after this seminar, a colleague sent me “TheCreative Monopoly” by David Brooks. In it, he discusses the obsession we have
with competition and winning and describes the connection between losing and
creativity, and also how competition itself can hinder creativity. Check it out
here.

* Shark Girl apologizes to Black Belt for not giving him
credit by name. It would compromise my anonymity. Shark Girl consoles herself
with the certainty that many people have used Black Belt’s words and techniques
before and passed them off as their own. (Every gym has at least one prominent
Jiu Jitsu Plagiarer—the dude who studies YouTube and then says he “came up with” a technique.) At least
Shark Girl acknowledges that she was not the author of this brilliant nugget.

** Well, I’m sure there are some people who do. But those folks should probably troll
Cragislist and backpage for like minded adults and steer away from the jiu
jitsu mat. It just makes it creepy for all involved. (I’ve provided handy links
for those of you right here. You’re welcome.)

Sage advice. I've seen the same thing just in the 8.5 months I've been doing this. Spazzy people who take it too seriously tend to fall behind while the ones who kick back and enjoy themselves learn more and progress faster. It's pretty cool.